christopher price

Patriots’ special teamer Matthew Slater, who was named to his first Pro Bowl on Tuesday, will be the second member of his family to achieve the honor. His father, Hall of Famer Jackie Slater, went to seven Pro Bowls with the Rams from 1983 to 1990 as one of the best offensive linemen in the league.

“Relative to Matt, me and his mother and his brother are just delighted for him,” Jackie said when reached by phone in California Wednesday night. “We know how hard he’s worked and how hard he continues to work in the offseason. It’s a job to him, and we are just delighted that he has been blessed with this honor.

“It is a very special honor. My family views this as a very special honor. We know that the players who vote on something like this, for what they’ve seen on film. That’s the ultimate compliment to be paid, to have an opponent to say ‘He’s very good at what he does,’ Matt knows the importance of something like that, and that’s why it means so much to him.”

A fifth-round pick of the Patriots out of UCLA in 2008, Slater has seen action on both sides of the ball -- drafted as a safety, he’s played as a defensive back and wide receiver in his three-plus seasons in the league. However, it’s on special teams where he’s found his niche. The fastest man on the roster, through 15 games, he leads the Patriots with 17 special-teams tackles.

According to his father, who played 20 years in the NFL, he’s never met anyone with more of a passion for the game than his son.

“I’ve met a lot of guys over the years, some of whom were quite passionate about the game,” Jackie said, “but I feel very, very comfortable in saying that my son has as much of a passion for the game of football, as much as anyone I’ve been around.”

“Pro Bowl -- always happy for the guys that made it,” Patriots coach Bill Belichick said Wednesday of his eight players who took home the honor. “There are always other guys that probably were worthy of it, but that’s the way it goes. I don’t have a lot of control over that.”

When the news came down on Tuesday that the 6-foot, 200-pound Matthew was one of eight to make the Pro Bowl, according to the New England defensive back, it was debatable who was happier.

“Oh, man, you would have thought he made the Pro Bowl the way he was acting,” Matthew said Wednesday morning. “But he’s extremely proud, and my father is a big reason why I’m here today, why I’ve had the success that I’ve had football-wise, because he’s taught me how to be a professional, taught me to respect this game and taught me how to really work at it and prepare to be a master of your craft. So I owe him a lot.”

The trip to Hawaii is nothing new for Matthew -- Jackie said Tuesday night he took his family to the Pro Bowl on several occasions.

“We were at six different Pro Bowls -- I don’t think he went to the first one, but he went to the rest of them, all in a row,” he said. “Matt went and had some unique experiences for a young man, going and getting autographs for players. It was something he was very comfortable with. We were very proud to be able to bring him along -- this won’t be something he hasn’t done before, but I know he’ll be able to appreciate it.”

In his three-plus seasons with New England, Matthew had built a rep as a high-character individual, something that’s more important to his mother and father than any Pro Bowl berth.

“His mother Annie and myself, we’ve always encouraged him to be a good guy and to treat people the way they would want to be treated and give them the proper amount of respect,” Jackie said. “The fact that he is a high-character young man is just as important as the on-field actions. The way he deals with people and the way he tries to help people, all of that is very, very important to him.”

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